Aborginal group gets native land claim - Australia
30/3/08
The Lake Condah area in Victoria’s south-west has been officially handed back to the Gunditjmara Aboriginal people. The Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation will now manage Lake Condah and are the second group of Aborigines to have native title recognised in Victoria. After an 11-year battle, Federal Court judge Tony North recognised the Gunditjmara people as the native title holders of the 290-hectare Crown land area 340km west of Melbourne a year ago. The corporation’s chairman, Damien Bell, said Gunditjmara people had aspired to have Lake Condah returned to them for a long time.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23455690-26103,00.html
Dreaming of an equal chance
Natasha Robinson; 29/3/08
A slow but radical shift is occurring on Aboriginal township lands. Liberal economists hail it as the legislative tool that will finally allow indigenous people to believe in the great Australian dream; land-rights diehards warn it will be the end of native title at remote townships. More than a year after the Howard government changed the Land Rights Act to allow 99-year leases on Aboriginal township lands, leasing is emerging as the legislative tool that will allow governments to improve the parlous condition of infrastructure in remote communities and provide basic services to growing indigenous populations. It has not been an easy ride. Former indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough convinced only one community, Nguiu at Bathurst Island, to sign up to a 99-year township lease since introducing the legislation in 2006. Brough’s vision for remote Aboriginal towns - as vibrant, bustling hubs with bakeries and corner shops, where indigenous residents had the opportunity to buy their own homes - did not win over the communities.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23447593-5013172,00.html